SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The American Hiking Society and Tahoe Rim Trail Association partnered this month to host National Trails Day. South Lake Tahoe saw around 75 participants, while nationwide, 50,000 people attended.

The event in Tahoe took place on the Big Meadow Trail, where volunteers participated in a number of trail stewardship and maintenance activities from 8 a.m.- 2 p.m., for a total of six hours. Activities included moving and managing brush and trees, and picking up trash. Afterwards, volunteers celebrated at the Divided Sky in Meyers.

National Trails Day is a “nationwide movement with communities to celebrate and improve trails, offering powerful local stories of outdoor engagement and environmental stewardship,” the description says. 

“TRTA’s project this Saturday focuses on the new highway crossing reroute at Big Meadow Trailhead.”

National Trails Day can be found on most standard calendars and takes place on the first Saturday every June. One component of the event was also testing out new gear, in which an exoskeleton company debuted its new gear and tested it on volunteers. Typically, exoskeletons are made for individuals with health problems, but this one was developed for the “average hiker and walker,” said Heather Olson, the Executive Director of the American Hiking Society. Volunteers aimed to “leave the trail better than you found it,” she added.

The American Hiking Society also hosts trail maintenance days across the El Dorado National Forest, in celebration of “the outdoors, community and innovation.”